Is there a report from some of the Companions that they saw the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) shortening the prayer at the distance of one mile, or one farsakh, or three farsakhs? Is there a restriction in this?
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The questioner: A continuation of the hadith.
The Shaykh : That is enough for you.
The questioner: A continuation of this hadith is that there is a report from some of the Companions that they saw the Messenger - (peace and blessings be upon him) - shortening the prayer at the distance of one mile, or one farsakh, or three farsakhs. Three narrations have come.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So we say here that it is restricted.
The Shaykh: This is not a restriction on every journey a person travels. It is not a restriction on every journey for every traveler. Rather, it is that when he reached this distance, he shortened the prayer. But it is not in the hadith that he returned, meaning that when he reached this place, he went back, so that the distance was defined by this short distance. This is the first part of the answer.
The questioner: Meaning we shorten the prayer at the distance of one mile.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Do we shorten the prayer at the distance of one mile or one farsakh?
The Shaykh: Yes, the answer has already been given, but you should be patient with me. We said at the beginning of the answer that it is not in the hadith, it is not in the hadith that after shortening the prayer for a distance of three farsakhs, he returned from that place to Madinah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: If that were the case, it would have been specified that he shortened the prayer at three farsakhs because he returned. But this statement can be interpreted as him traveling twenty farsakhs, but what happened to him was that when he covered a distance of three farsakhs, he shortened the prayer. This does not mean that it is not permissible before that, and that he was not a traveler after that. Therefore, this does not define travel for everyone who travels, nor does it define the travel of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when he traveled and shortened the prayer upon reaching three farsakhs. This is, as the jurists say, a specific instance with no general application, from two aspects: the first aspect I mentioned earlier. The other aspect, which I mentioned earlier, is that it does not state that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he reached this point and shortened the prayer, returned. The other aspect is what was established earlier: there is a long journey that we now call, by way of analogy, a journey, but it is not considered a journey, and there is a short distance that one covers which is considered a journey by custom. So, this distance mentioned in the hadith, which is the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), if it was indeed a travel distance in the sense that he reached there, shortened the prayer, and returned, then the custom at that time was that this distance, and specifically this journey, was a journey. So, a general rule is not taken from it. I mention on this occasion that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah - (may Allah have mercy on him) - gave an example in a very important treatise of his titled "Rulings on Travel," which is found in "Majmu' al-Masa'il wa al-Rasail" of Ibn Taymiyyah. He gave the following example between Damascus and Aleppo, which is four hundred kilometers: A man left Damascus for hunting and reached one of its villages, for example, Dumat al-Jandal. He prays the full prayer because he did not leave with the intention of traveling, but he was seeking game. He was not satisfied with the hunting at this distance, so he continued and reached another village and kept moving from place to place in pursuit of the game. And as he - (peace and blessings be upon him) - said in the authentic hadith:Sunan Abi Dawud 2859Sahih (Al-Albani) So he found himself having arrived where? In Aleppo. He covered a distance of four hundred kilometers. This is not a traveler. Yes, he covered this distance, which is certainly a travel distance for whom? For one who intends to travel. But in this case, since he did not intend or plan to travel, nor did he prepare for travel, he is not a traveler, even if he covered the distance of travel, which is certainly so for the majority of travelers. So, the distance is not looked at, whether it is long or short. Rather, the consideration, as we said, is the custom as a rule. So, this hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), in which he shortened the prayer at three farsakhs, does not mean defining every journey and defining every journey for every traveler. This is the summary of the answer.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The Shaykh : That is enough for you.
The questioner: A continuation of this hadith is that there is a report from some of the Companions that they saw the Messenger - (peace and blessings be upon him) - shortening the prayer at the distance of one mile, or one farsakh, or three farsakhs. Three narrations have come.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So we say here that it is restricted.
The Shaykh: This is not a restriction on every journey a person travels. It is not a restriction on every journey for every traveler. Rather, it is that when he reached this distance, he shortened the prayer. But it is not in the hadith that he returned, meaning that when he reached this place, he went back, so that the distance was defined by this short distance. This is the first part of the answer.
The questioner: Meaning we shorten the prayer at the distance of one mile.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Do we shorten the prayer at the distance of one mile or one farsakh?
The Shaykh: Yes, the answer has already been given, but you should be patient with me. We said at the beginning of the answer that it is not in the hadith, it is not in the hadith that after shortening the prayer for a distance of three farsakhs, he returned from that place to Madinah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: If that were the case, it would have been specified that he shortened the prayer at three farsakhs because he returned. But this statement can be interpreted as him traveling twenty farsakhs, but what happened to him was that when he covered a distance of three farsakhs, he shortened the prayer. This does not mean that it is not permissible before that, and that he was not a traveler after that. Therefore, this does not define travel for everyone who travels, nor does it define the travel of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when he traveled and shortened the prayer upon reaching three farsakhs. This is, as the jurists say, a specific instance with no general application, from two aspects: the first aspect I mentioned earlier. The other aspect, which I mentioned earlier, is that it does not state that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he reached this point and shortened the prayer, returned. The other aspect is what was established earlier: there is a long journey that we now call, by way of analogy, a journey, but it is not considered a journey, and there is a short distance that one covers which is considered a journey by custom. So, this distance mentioned in the hadith, which is the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), if it was indeed a travel distance in the sense that he reached there, shortened the prayer, and returned, then the custom at that time was that this distance, and specifically this journey, was a journey. So, a general rule is not taken from it. I mention on this occasion that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah - (may Allah have mercy on him) - gave an example in a very important treatise of his titled "Rulings on Travel," which is found in "Majmu' al-Masa'il wa al-Rasail" of Ibn Taymiyyah. He gave the following example between Damascus and Aleppo, which is four hundred kilometers: A man left Damascus for hunting and reached one of its villages, for example, Dumat al-Jandal. He prays the full prayer because he did not leave with the intention of traveling, but he was seeking game. He was not satisfied with the hunting at this distance, so he continued and reached another village and kept moving from place to place in pursuit of the game. And as he - (peace and blessings be upon him) - said in the authentic hadith:
he who pursues the game will be negligent
ومن اتبع الصيد غفلThe questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.